Topeka ? Standard & Poor’s has told Westar Energy Inc. that it is considering downgrading the company’s credit rating.

In a letter released Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s said the decision to put Westar on CreditWatch was in response to Westar’s announcement Friday that it would restate its financial results for the first half of the year, including taking a $93 million charge to correct an accounting error.

“Westar’s financial position remains quite depressed,” according to Standard & Poor’s.

The rating agency said the move also was influenced by uncertainties facing the company’s effort to dispose of its stake in Oneok Inc.

Officials with Westar, a Topeka-based utility holding firm with other stakes in home security and natural gas businesses, would not comment on Standard and Poor’s decision, spokeswoman Karla Olsen said Wednesday.

Standard & Poor’s already has Westar’s rating at junk status, although another downgrade would further complicate the company’s financing in the future and raise costs.

The company’s 2000 and 2001 results also will be reaudited.

“There’s nothing going Westar’s way,” said Walker Hendrix of the Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board in Topeka, which acts on behalf of Kansas consumers on utility issues.

S&P said a decision on Westar’s credit rating is expected during the first quarter of 2003, after the completion of pending audits and a review with management.

Jim Zakoura, an attorney for Kansas Industrial Consumers, an association of commercial power users, said Westar’s regulated utilities have performed well, but the company’s financial condition is being damaged by its unregulated ventures.

“The next 30 to 60 days will probably be crucial for Westar,” Zakoura said.

The $93 million charge is to correct a mistake in calculating goodwill for Protection One, its monitored security subsidiary. Goodwill is the amount over book value that one company pays for another in an acquisition.

Westar’s stock closed Wednesday at $10.85, up 21 cents per share.